Russian diplomats to discuss Russia's interests in the West and the East

At the conference on Friday the Russian ambassadors will discuss in detail the problems of strategic stability and international security. Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said this on Wednesday in an interview to RIA Novosti.

He pointed out that these problems would be considered also "from the point of view of the implementation of the Treaty on Strategic Offensive Reductions and other accords with the United States." Igor Ivanov underscored that Russian diplomacy "will have to develop practical cooperation within the framework of the new Russia-NATO Council and to seek the solution to specific issues concerning relations with the European Union." In the opinion of the Russian Foreign Minister, "our actions in these directions are called upon to contribute to the formation of a new model of European and international security." Igor Ivanov also said that further development of international cooperation in the fight against new global threats and challenges would be an important issue at the conference. The minister explained that at this conference the diplomats "will deeply analyse ways of strengthening the legal basis of anti-terrorist activities, relying on the International Law and the Charter of the United Nations, and for preventing double standards in this sphere." The Russian Foreign Minister pointed out that "taking into consideration the multi-vector character of Russia's foreign policy, the conference participants will discuss our priorities both in the West and in the East." In the opinion of the Foreign Minister, "the top priority is the all-out development of cooperation within the Community of Independent States in which EurAsEC and the Collective Security Treaty are called upon to play a systematising role." The diplomats will also discuss specific tasks for expanding the activity of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, the development of contacts with other regional structures and partnership relations with the leading countries of the Asia-Pacific region, above all with China and India.

The Russian Foreign Minister said that "special attention is to be paid to upgrading 'economic diplomacy' as one of the main instruments for Russia's integration into the world economy." Igor Ivanov believes that in conditions of tough rivalry in the world, "it is necessary to intensify the work aimed at ensuring favourable conditions for Russia's entry into the WTO, to assist Russian business and to protect Russian producers on international markets." In this connection, "the assistance to the formation of a positive image of our country abroad with the use, for this aim, of the entire arsenal of modern information technologies" is an important independent trend in the diplomatic work, concluded Igor Ivanov.